Michelle Obama facing backlash over claim about women's reproductive health

Former First Lady Michelle Obama is facing backlash after saying that creating life is "the least" of what a woman’s reproductive system does. 

On the latest episode of the podcast "IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson," the former first lady and her brother were joined by OB/GYN Dr. Sharon Malone, whose husband, Eric Holder, served as Attorney General under former President Barack Obama. During the discussion, the former first lady lamented that women’s reproductive health "has been reduced to the question of choice." 

"I attempted to make the argument on the campaign trail this past election was that there’s just so much more at stake and because so many men have no idea about what women go through," Obama said. She went on to claim that the lack of research on women’s health shapes male leaders’ perceptions of the issue of abortion.

Dr. Sharon Malone joins the podcast "IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson." The episode was released on May 28, 2025. ("IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson"/YouTube)

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"Women’s reproductive health is about our life. It’s about this whole complicated reproductive system that the least of what it does is produce life," Obama added, "It’s a very important thing that it does, but you only produce life if the machine that’s producing it — if you want to whittle us down to a machine — is functioning in a healthy, streamlined kind of way."

In the same episode, the former first lady seemed to scold Republican men by saying that the men who "sit on their hands" over abortion are choosing to "trade out women’s health for a tax break or whatever it is." Obama also criticized Republican women, suggesting they voted for President Donald Trump because of their husbands.

"There are a lot of men who have big chairs at their tables, there are a lot of women who vote the way their man is going to vote, it happened in this election."

Former first lady Michelle Obama speaks during an episode of her podcast, "IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson" on May 28, 2025. ("IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson"/YouTube)

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The "Becoming" author’s remarks drew criticism from pro-life activists, including Danielle D’Souza Gill, the wife of Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas. The couple announced the birth of their second child earlier in May. 

"Motherhood is the most beautiful and powerful gift God gave women. Creating life isn’t a side effect, it’s a miracle. Don’t let the Left cheapen it," D’Souza Gill wrote in a post on X.

Isabel Brown, a content creator and author, also slammed the former first lady as a "supposed feminist icon."

"I am SO sick [and] tired of celebrities [and] elitists attempting to convince you that your miraculous superpower ability to GROW LIFE from nothing is somehow demeaning [and] ‘lesser than’ for women," Brown wrote.

Former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama attends Opening Night celebrating '50 years of equal pay' during Day One of the 2023 US Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 28, 2023.(Photo by Jean Catuffe/GC Images) (Jean Catuffe/GC Images)

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At the time of this writing, Obama's podcast is ranked 51 on Apple Podcasts and doesn't appear on the list of the top 100 podcasts on Spotify. However, it is ranked 91 on the list of 100 trending podcasts on Spotify. The entire episode with Malone is available on YouTube, where it currently has just under 41,150 views so far.